In 2025 alone, 12 federal inmates requested assisted suicide, which Canada calls Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), according to an Order Paper response from the Correctional Service of Canada.
Since 2018, at least 15 inmates have died by assisted suicide while in federal custody, according to data reported by the Daily Mail. Over this period, 67 prisoners applied for assisted suicide after it was legalized nationwide in 2016.
Canada abolished the death penalty for civilian crimes in 1976 and removed it from military law in 1998. Life imprisonment replaced capital punishment for murder and other serious offenses. Even so, the state now permits prisoners to request physician-assisted death while serving their sentences.
The Correctional Service of Canada has reported an increase in assisted suicide requests following the expansion of eligibility rules under the country’s liberal government.